The International Transport Workers’ Federation shed light on another case of seafarer abandonment, now concerning a crew of a bulk carrier which has been abandoned by its owner and flag state and is staging a hunger strike to call attention.
ITF reports that the crew consisting of Indian, Turkish, Azerbaijani, and Bangladeshi seafarers, has been stuck on the ship, the Ula, abandoned for the past 11 months at the port of Shuaiba, Kuwait.
Thus, the crew began the hunger strike on January 7 in their effort to get off the ship and recover more than $400,000 in wages owed to them.
The seafarers’ lives remain at risk the ITF urges if they continue to refuse food and water. They are reporting that six of the crew were briefly hospitalized to stabilize their blood pressure and sugar levels. They were later returned to the ship.
Mohamed Arrachedi, ITF Arab World and Iran Network Coordinator for the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) stated that
The Kuwaiti authorities must act urgently to save these seafarers from killing themselves through this hunger strike. Most of the crew have been on board for 14 months – and some have now spent over two years on board. These seafarers are simply asking Kuwait to replace them with a local crew so that they can go home to their families.
Recently, the ITF highlighted the issue of seafarer abandonment, noting that since the pandemic the federation along with its national union affiliates have assisted more than 135 seafarers across 12 ships in the Arab World to return to their families across the globe.
